The aim of the project is to promote and implement the uptake of sustainable energy in NWE. The project will achieve this through the development of a transnational academy. bringing together public and private agencies to champion sustainable energy. The partnership brings together 4 distinct capability sets. coordinated through an innovative Academy of Champions for Energy: 1. ICT capabilities for energy smart cities. villages & regions 2. 100% energy self-sufficiency in a village 3. Community-based renewable energy technologies 4. New business models for sustainable energy These combined capabilities will demonstrate and promote renewable energy among local authorities. business and citizen communities in a manner that would not happen without the Academy. The Energy Champions are existing innovative energy agencies who successfully champion the cause of sustainable energy in their regions and have complementary transferable skills to share through the Academy. The Academy will be a virtual entity that will endure at least until 2020 by maintaining a functioning Secretariat. The physical manifestation of the Academy will be demonstrated through the investment sites in IE. NL. and F. The Academy will achieve: * Enhanced level of innovation and competitiveness across NWE through increasing the combined capabilities of sustainable energy champions * Greater awareness for renewable energy planning among local and regional authorities. elected Councillors and communities through a NWE communication strategy * Vertical integration of regional sustainable energy planning with national and EU policies. involving businesses and grid operators as observers in the project * Academy Awards competitions to network with additional energy champions and extend the Academy membership * Contribution to the EU target of 20% renewable energy by 2020. through complementary and transferable flagship community projects. with replication through the Academy. Achievements: The ACE partners created a transnational Academy of Champion for Energy which brings experts from public and private agencies together with four district capabilities (Action 1). These cover the following areas:1. ICT capabilities for energy smart cities, villages & regions2. 100% energy self-sufficiency in a village3. Community-based renewable energy technologies4. New business models for sustainable energyA virtual map was created to show this expertise in North West Europe. This geographical map will be further extended to feature connecting initiatives within the INTERREG IVB NWE programme (Action 2). A Strategic Initiative workshop is planned for April 2015 to identify synergies with these initiatives and help increase the impact of their outcomes (Action 17).The ACE marketing strategy identifies the target audiences for this renewable energy initiative and its development potential within North West Europe (Action 13). It outlines how to engage with and encourage communities to implement RE projects across NWE.The Ace Awards took place throughout 2014 to recognise initiatives, organisations and projects in the field of renewable energy and energy transition and help extend the network of Champions for Energy. The European Academy Awards finale was held in November in Arnhem, the Netherlands, where winners were announced in 3 categories: 1) Best Energy-Smart Initiative; 2) Energy Neutral Village; 3) Community Based Renewable Energy (Action 14/15).A citizen engagement tool (Action 12) has been developed by the partnership in order to communicate the benefits of RE projects to local communities through a range of case studies (Action 6/12). This builds upon a series of workshops (Action 5) held by the ACE partners to identify barriers to RE implementation in a report (Action 11) and develop a range of innovative business models (Action 6) which would help the increased uptake.Three investments are part of the ACE project in order to showcase sustainable and innovative energy practices through demonstration. Through the Loenen Village in Apeldoorn, Netherlands (Action 8) ACE is demonstrating a successful model of how to start the journey towards 100% self-sufficiency. In Ireland, the investment project includes the creation of a renewable energy space in a library as well as a smart-energy feature in a public space in Dublin to communicate directly to citizens (Action 7). These investments will be celebrated through renewable energy events in 2015 (Action 16). Documents:- Templederry Case Study - File Download- Renewable Energy Report Dublin - File Download- ACE Marketing Strategy - File Download